Because Lee's previous films have been so fervently about something that they smothered much of the very humanity Crooklyn celebrates, the relaxed gait is strikingly apparent.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 26, 2022

Apart from being the two female presences in the house, Carolyn sees singular fortitude and possibility in Troy. Their scenes together are the heart of the movie.

| Jan 5, 2021

Lee seems to confuse noise with drama: the bickering Carmichaels create quite a racket, but we're seldom moved by their plight. In his most desperate moment, Lee shoots a long sequence through a distorted lens.

| Jun 5, 2018

| Original Score: B- | Sep 7, 2011

Lee is a great self-promoter. After all his press releases and all his interviews, we are given films that are sketchy, unfelt and distancing -- incidents in Lee's career, the only drama that really interests him.

| Sep 23, 2008

The key problem is that the film is simply a ragged series of anecdotal sketches.

| Jun 24, 2006

It's the first Spike Lee film with the potential to be turned into a television show. More important, it's the first one to display real warmth of heart.

Full Review | May 20, 2003

This remarkable movie will haunt you for a good long time.

Full Review | May 12, 2001

A winning work whose charms far outweigh any pitfalls.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 1, 2000

Modulating from heavy to light, from angry to lyrical, and so on, the movie's an enjoyable, emotional symphony.

| Jan 1, 2000

Crooklyn is not in any way an angry film. But thinking about the difference between its world and ours can make you angry, and I think that was one of Lee's purposes here.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 1, 2000

| Original Score: B- | May 13, 1994